Want your content to make an impression? TikTok isn’t always the answer

TikTok is often associated with young social media users interested in short videos of viral dances and cute animals. As a result, some don’t consider TikTok a useful place to share more serious content.

Julie Smith, an author and clinical psychologist, has turned to social media to share video content addressing mental health issues.

After trying out several different platforms, including YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, the influencer found a clear difference in the expectations of the audience across the different digital platforms.

“I’m trying to educate. Sometimes you don’t want to be super entertaining and you just want to get a point across. [My fans] are more likely to find that kind of educational content on Instagram,” said Julie.

More views, or better engagement?

In initial experiments on TikTok, Julie created an optical illusion video about facial recognition technology – a step to the side of the usual mental health-focused content.

The video generated 250,000 new followers practically overnight, but this success had a very short shelf life. Why? Simply put, this video was a one-off for Julie, and these new TikTok followers expected a lot more of the same.

“You’ve got to let people unfollow you over time so you can get new, more engaged followers,” Julie noted. “You don’t want everyone. You want people interested in what you provide.”

Social is not one-size-fits-all

Julie went on to say that the most engaged YouTube and Instagram followers regularly use Linktree – a reference page tool enabling creators to share links related to their content on social media profiles – on the platforms.

Because Julie often shares mental health advice, users often want to know more about a given topic, and so will turn to Linktree. This level of interaction encouraged Julie to publish a book compiling insights.

It’s clear, therefore, that social is not one-size-fits-all. TikTok may be hot right now and built for viral success. But it’s more valuable in the long term to share content with an engaged few, rather than with a fickle many.

For more insights, explore our full Media and Marketing Insights report here.

Main image of Julie Smith, author and clinical psychologist, on the Verified stage during Day 1 of Web Summit 2022 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal: Sam Barnes/Web Summit (CC BY 2.0)